A zesty dressing to add to your fresh and colourful salads. Quick to make using healthy ingredients.
Ingredients:
One small fresh lime (peeled)
A small handful of activated walnuts
Cold pressed olive oil
Organic apple cider vinegar (a dash)
Sea salt and black pepper (a pinch of each)
Method:
Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and puree. Add enough olive oil so the dressing has quite a liquid consistency. Taste and add more salt and pepper as required. If you would like the dressing thinner just add more olive oil. Pour over your salad before serving and mix through.
The Christmas basics! A gorgeous turkey to share with the family.
Once a year l go all out and make the most delicious turkey meal for the family. A special part of this celebration is a most gorgeous gluten free stuffing which everyone looks forward to. The leftovers are one of the highlights and an array of vegetable and salad dishes completes a most magnificent meal.
The seasoning is bursting out of the turkey.
Buy the best quality turkey you can. I like to buy a free range or organic turkey and if frozen will need to defrost in the fridge for about four days. Wash it well before cooking including the cavity.
Seasoning:
One loaf of good quality gluten free bread.
A handful each of spring onion greens sliced, chopped walnuts, coconut flakes, herbs (parsley and mint).
The juice and zest of one lemon.
Pink rock salt and black pepper.
One generous tablespoon of coconut oil.
Filtered water (approximately 1/4 of a cup but use your judgement)
A handful of finely chopped nuts such as walnuts
One piece of celery finely chopped
Anything else you have which you think might add to the flavour.
Directions: Break up the bread into pieces and place into the food processor (chopping blade). Add all ingredients and process until looking well combined.
Ready to go into the turkeyYou can also just break the bread up and mix it in a bowl if you don’t have a food processor.The turkey has been coated in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. I sit it on a rack with water underneath.
Spoon into the turkey cavity and pull the top of the turkey up to fit it all in.
I use a baking dish with about 1 cm of water in the bottom. I then place the turkey on a wire rack and cover generously with foil. Place in a 180 degree celcius oven and it will cook the most evenly in a fan forced oven. Cook until golden and delicious which for me was about 5 hours for a 4.5 kg turkey. I like to remove the turkey once during cooking to baste and then remove when cooked and let sit fully covered for at least 30 minutes.
Sensational
I like to cook up lots of baked veggie dishes and salads and the best part is eating the leftovers the next day.
Cold leftovers.
This recipe uses a loaf of gluten free bread as the base for the stuffing. I rarely eat processed gluten free foods but this recipe benefits from having the bread as the base. You could make a Paleo bread but l am o.k having this as a once a year treat and the decision is entirely a personal one.
I hope you enjoyed a lovely Christmas and New Year with those closest to you.
What is a big salad? Why does it have to be big? How do l make a big salad? Do l need a big bowl? What would l put in a big salad? Will l be able to eat it all?
So many questions to address before we even start.
Fresh and colourful
Eating a wholefoods based diet is supported by food planning. For me this requires the preparation of a BIG salad usually twice a week. This enables me to have a fresh salad on hand at all times. Eating raw foods is wonderful for your overall health, supports satiety and digestion.
I usually base my salads on a green such as spinach or cabbage (either red or green). From there l just add my favourite ingredients. Some times it is more green than others, and then when l use beetroot as one example there is a colour explosion.
Red cabbage and beetroot add to the colour in this salad.
Fresh herbs from the garden can add a lovely element to the salad. I like to use flat leaf parsley and sometimes mint. Some of my favourite vegetables are daikon, celery, carrot, fennel and capsicum. Try to use seasonal vegetables and the freshest ones possible so the salad keeps well.
Almost a coleslaw
I have a really big bowl that l use to mix my salads. As the volume goes down after a day or so l transfer it to a smaller bowl or container. Sometimes l drain off the extra liquid at this step. The salad can be served at any meal and is so handy to have in the fridge.
These colourful salads are enticing to the taste buds.
I often add nuts and seeds to the salads. Usually l choose walnuts, flaked almonds, pumpkin seeds or slivered almonds. I dress the salad with a mix of cold pressed olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon/lime juice, sea salt and black pepper. I mix it in a small glass and blend it with a hand mixer before adding it to the salad.
The chewing required to eat these salads starts the digestive process.
Mostly the salads keep really well. After a few days if l have some leftover and l want a new salad l use the remainder in an omelette. It is a very economical way to meal prep. I also mostly use my food processor to make the salads but if it is greens based l will sometimes cut and grate the vegetables the old fashioned way. I find the cabbage is sliced beautifully in the food processor and it is so quick.
Enjoy your salad as part of a balanced meal.
Experiment with your salads. How big the salad is will depend on the size of your family. I encourage you to eat as much salad as you can as part of a healthy and balanced diet. Buy seasonal and organic vegetables where possible and spend some time thinking about the ingredients that will work well together. It can take time to get used to eating salads. Chewing is important and the dressing can really make a difference to the flavour.
It is so much fun to just grab a healthy treat from the freezer knowing exactly what is in it and that it is going to taste excellent and be sustaining. These little balls are packed full of healthy fats from the nuts, coconut oil & chia seeds. Whip up a batch right now!
A tangy lemon treat.
Ingredients:
2 cups of hard nuts (I used almonds)
1 cup of raw cashews
1 tablespoon chia seeds
Juice and zest of one lemon
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup rice malt syrup (1/3 cup honey or maple syrup can be substituted)
Method:
Place all ingredients in the food processor.
All healthy and natural
Blitz until well combined and the nuts are broken down.
Have a taste now.
Roll into small balls using your hands.
This recipe makes approximately 20 balls.
These will go quite firm in the fridge if you are eating them within a day or two. Otherwise keep them in the freezer and eat them frozen or let them sit for a bit until they soften. Have one or two as a snack and enjoy.
These can be made in around 5 minutes. Vary the nuts and add different flavours that suit your tastes.
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Live & eat mindfully. Gluten & dairy free recipes.
Holistic Wellness for Life 